Prophet's Pass

by Chapman Brown

  Hunter found the shoebox he was looking for. “My mom called this morning. Steph had the baby. It’s a girl.”

  “Congratulations,” Aiden said, feeling like this wasn’t getting any less surreal.

  “They said she’s kinda small, so they’re taking them both to the neonatal unit in Provo. My dad said if you need the car back….”

  “I’m in no hurry,” Aiden said.

  “Cool,” Hunter replied. He turned to go but hesitated at the door. He looked back at Aiden. “You need to work I guess, but….”

  Aiden was suddenly conscious he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He felt strangely vulnerable under Hunter’s gaze.

  “I typed up all my notes from yesterday already.”

  “I was gonna hike up to Prophet’s Pass today. I don’t know if my dad showed you.”

  Aiden shook his head. He hadn’t.

  “It’s a cool spot. If you wanted to come.”

  “Sure,” Aiden said. He wanted to spend time with him, and he knew it was probably a bad idea. But wasn’t this proof Hunter wanted to spend time with him too? Hunter had asked, and he looked pleased when Aiden said yes. Maybe he was making this more complicated than it needed to be.

  They were ready to go an hour later, after Aiden took a long and very cold shower. Outside was just as bad. The snow had stopped overnight to be replaced by ice, glassy shards crusting every branch and eave. A thick carpet of it covered the accumulated snow, weighting each footstep with a brittle crack.

  “Sure we can make it?” Aiden asked, taking in the conditions.

  Hunter pointed a gloved hand up in the direction of the forest. “Most of the trail’s through the trees. Shouldn’t be too deep underfoot.”

  They started walking through the white forest, and Aiden wondered how anyone had ever survived here before the advent of cars, electricity, and central air. Half the year the place was a desert, and the other half it was trying to freeze you to death. He couldn’t fault the Jensens for having a romantic view of the land when their forbearers must have battled every day to make a life of it. This wasn’t a landscape that was meant to be tamed. It might tolerate you, it might even be kind to you, but it never belonged to you.

  Hunter was a few steps ahead of him, his breath clouding over his shoulder like the steam of a traveling train. Here and there, the wan winter sun broke through the canopy, forming sparkling yellow pillars where it caught the drifting powder blowing from the branches. Aiden heard no birds, nothing but their own breathing and the crunch of their steps along the path. The ground was sloping upward, and the trees were shortening as if they’d all agreed a maximum height some time ago and those at the top of the hill just had to make do with the narrow ceiling of space they had.

  “Careful,” Hunter warned as the trail changed from pine needles and snow to frosted sandstone. He levered himself expertly up some of the trickier steps, holding out his hand for Aiden to follow. Together, they were climbing, and soon the trees had fallen away entirely, and they were walking along the red rock lip of the highest canyon ridge.

  “That’s a view!” Aiden said, the wind threatening to whip away his words. The path was wide and marked by a rope. Beyond that it fell away to the canyon below, the sliver of white-dusted green snaking along between tall sandstone walls. The Rockies rose, gray and majestic, in the far west; to the east, the great rolling expanse of plains and desert. Hunter paused, his hands on his hips. He pointed out onto the landscape. “That’s Salt Lake, up there! Provo! Hill AFB—home!”

  “I thought this was home!”

  Hunter turned to him. He pulled off his hood, and the wind stirred his hair, same color as the sunlight. “Aiden, I lied to you! When I said I didn’t go to those places. Gay places. I lied!”

  Aiden felt his heart skip a little, even as the wind buffeted at him. “I figured!”

  Hunter grinned and pulled back on his hood. He signaled they should walk on. The trail crested the top of the ridge and descended into forest again. The wind receded, even though Aiden’s ears still seemed to throb with it. Hunter’s orange jacket stopped up ahead. By the time Aiden caught up, he was squirting water into his mouth from a bottle. He held it out to him.

  “Want some?”

  Aiden took it and drank. He handed it back.

  “Do they know?” he asked. “Your parents?”

  Hunter fastened the bottle back into his rucksack. “They know something. All the kids we grew up with are married now. Even the ones in the military. I tell them I’m dating women; they say it’s the deployments. No one questions anything too much.”

  “Are you? Dating women?”

  “No. There was one. She… she loved me. I tried to love her. I thought if I could just make it work, it might all go away. But it didn’t.”

  “What happened?”

  “We were engaged. Then we weren’t.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” he said. “She deserved to be happy. It wouldn’t have been right. Come on. We’ve got a long way to go.”

  Aiden walked on, wondering about this woman Hunter had almost married. Who was she? Had she known, he wondered? Had she cared? Maybe she too thought it was something God would fix with sufficient hope and devotion. He almost felt a little pang of jealousy. A big trunk had fallen over the trail ahead, the bark coated in moss and lacquered with ice. Aiden climbed over cautiously, making sure to kick himself dry footholds as he did so.

  “What about you?” Hunter asked. “Do you have a….”

  “Boyfriend? No. I did.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing happened really. We just fell out of love, I guess.”

  “The Church says two men can’t be in love. It’s the woman who brings the love. Two men, it’s just… it’s just lust.”

  “And you believe that?”

  “I’ve been to bars. Clubs. I see how it goes.”

  He said it with such offended solemnity, Aiden had to laugh. “If that’s where you’re going, I’m not surprised.”

  Hunter glanced at him. “You’re making fun of me.”

  “I’m not, I just… I don’t get it. Like you said,” he confessed. “I don’t get it. I don’t get what you’re supposed to do. You’re a good person. You serve, you pray, you… save animals! You’re a far better person than I am. And none of that matters because of who you want to be with? I can’t believe that.”

  “The animal was you.”

  Aiden smiled. “Well….”

  “No, seriously, I was about to shoot that thing.”

  “Maybe we’re both better than we think we are,” Aiden said.

  He looked up, hearing a low, rumbling noise. “What’s that?”

  “We’re here,” Hunter said. The trees cleared around them, the trail coming to an end at a sandstone shelf. Prophet’s Pass. It was a narrow gorge, high and thin, snaking its way off the main canyon like the tributary of a river. Ancient trees leaned into the narrow gap, anchored to the boulders by a great tangle of roots, and the sandstone crags were verdant with foliage. At the head of the pass was a waterfall, a silvery plume dropping forty or fifty feet, its head wrapped in strange, twisting ice, clear and blue as a summer’s sky. A drifting, rainbow mist rose from the crack, and where it settled and froze, it left a silver sheen, gleaming like mercury. Aiden inhaled the ozone-rich air, crisp and pure, like something from Eden. It was beautiful.

  He heard Hunter shouting. “This is why they call it Prophet’s Pass!”

  Aiden looked behind him, to see Hunter crouched in the tree line. He’d taken off his coat and fleece and left them in a pile. He didn’t understand what Hunter was doing until he sprung up and started running, straight for the edge, building up speed until he reached the lip and flung himself over. Aiden watched him sail through the rising mist, landing on the opposite shelf. Hunter stood up and cheered.

  Aiden dashed to the edge. The gap was seven or eight yards wide, the shelf white with frost. Below was a fifty-foot drop of jagged
rock walls and thundering water. “Jesusfuck!” he exclaimed. He saw Hunter wince. He didn’t care. “What the hell was that?”

  “It’s tradition!” Hunter called. “It’s a test of faith!”

  “You people are fucking nuts!”

  Hunter laughed. “I’m coming back! Get out of the way.”

  Aiden couldn’t watch this. He stood well back, as Hunter lined himself up, pulled back, and ran. He sailed through the air, and landed again, but this time his feet almost slipped out from under him and only Aiden pulling him into his arms kept him upright. He stayed there, panting, skin, clothes, and hair soaked from the spray.

  “If you’re trying to impress me, that was a really fucking stupid way to do it!” Aiden said.

  “I needed to amp myself up.”

  “What?”

  “For this.”

  Hunter took him by the back of the head and kissed him. His face and lips were freezing wet with icy waterfall spray, but his mouth was hot, so hot Aiden almost felt he’d never be cold again. Their tongues met, then their bodies, like every atom in contact was a new spark of urgency. Hunter pulled Aiden to him, and Aiden felt it: the longing, the fear, the pain. He kissed like a man who feared he’d never kiss anyone. And Aiden gave himself into it, surrendering to it until he had to breathe, until he was sure, any moment, they’d both tumble off the cliff and into the void.

  They parted, gasping, looking at each other with surprised grins, as if stunned to find they were still the same people. The rumble of the waterfall, the whisper of the wind, gradually broke through the ringing in Aiden’s ears.

  “He didn’t let me fall,” Hunter said. “I said, ‘Lord, I’m going to kiss him.’ And I didn’t fall.” His eyes were sapphires, perfect and limitless.

  “You’re fucking crazy,” Aiden breathed. Hunter was shaking with the cold. Aiden found his discarded clothes, and pulled his wet T-shirt off him, peeled it from that perfect, trembling torso. “Put this on. We have to get you back.”

  Somehow they managed it. Whereas Hunter led them out, Aiden suddenly had the knowledge to lead them back, holding Hunter’s hand all the way, worried he was about to freeze to death. The Jensen house came into view, and he bundled Hunter across the threshold into the welcome warmth.

  “I’ll get you clothes,” Aiden said. “You’re still wet. Take off the rest of your things,” he instructed, going to the bathroom and trying to work out how to turn the shower on. “You need to warm up.”

  When he went back to the bedroom, Hunter had pulled off his outer clothes. A loose white shirt and shorts remained.

  “You need to get these off,” Aiden said, going to help him but Hunter stopped him.

  “Wait. Careful.” He took them off, and put them carefully to the side. “Temple garments,” he explained. The Mormon magic underwear, Aiden realized. What a weird context to finally see it.

  Hunter’s skin was still pale with cold, but he wasn’t shivering anymore. Quite the opposite. Aiden took in the thick, hard curve of his cock through his underwear.

  “Hunter… I don’t want to do anything you’ll regret.”

  Hunter held out his hand. “Aiden. Come here.”

  Fuck it. Aiden wasn’t a saint, Latter-day or otherwise. He let Hunter take his hand again, guide him to the bed. He kissed him, more gently this time. Taking his time. Aiden’s back hit the sheets, and Hunter’s weight was on him, their hands wrapped together, Hunter kissing his lips, his jaw, his throat. Aiden started to kiss back, finding his neck, the broad arc of his shoulder. He felt Hunter tense with each new sensation, but each time, he relaxed. His cold skin was getting warmer under Aiden’s mouth, and Aiden felt the heavy hardness of Hunter’s erection grinding against his own. They paused.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing,” Hunter said.

  Aiden froze. “Do you want to stop?”

  “I mean, I don’t know what to do. Together.”

  Aiden grinned. “Oh. Roll over.”

  Hunter did as he was told, and Aiden finally had him on his back. He ran his hands across the firm bulk of his chest, his stomach. Hunter watched him through hooded eyes as Aiden slowly pulled down Hunter’s underwear and threw it on the floor. Hunter’s big, perfect cock fell back with a meaty thud. Aiden took it gently in his hand, watching every inch of Hunter tense.

  “Relax,” he said. “Like this.” He stroked slowly to the top of Hunter’s shaft and down again. He repeated the motion, this time rubbing his thumb over his head, letting Hunter’s own wet arousal smooth the motion.

  Hunter gasped. “That feels good.”

  “Yeah?” Aiden asked. His own cock felt like a steel bar in his pants, and he paused to shuck out of them. Soon he was in his underwear too. He guided Hunter’s hand to his crotch. “Do what I do,” he said.

  “Okay.”

  He placed Hunter’s hand on his dick, letting him pump it as he showed him. He exhaled. “Not so hard. Yeah. That’s it.”

  “Good?” Hunter asked.

  Aiden smiled. He was so fucking beautiful, his strong legs spread and his cock as hard as a rock. He lifted Hunter’s hand off his dick gently and put it over his head. “Stay like that.” He kissed down his neck, the fuzzy muscle of his chest, flicking the stiff stub of his nipple with his tongue. Hunter breathed raggedly, his cock twitching where Aiden still held it. Aiden traced his tongue down the rigid grooves of his abdomen, and finally up the thick shaft of his dick.

  Hunter watched him. “Oh my gosh…,” he sighed, which made Aiden just want to make him cum then and there. He wrapped his lips around Hunter’s cock, wetting every inch of it, working it slowly into his mouth. Hunter groaned, his hands finding the back of Aiden’s head, fingers knotting through his hair. Aiden built to a rhythm, getting used to the size of him, sucking him hard until he could taste him, bittersweet, hear his ragged breaths and gentle exhortations to keep going: faster, harder, deeper. Aiden let him fall out of his mouth with a wet pop and kissed his way to his balls, sucking them, rolling them under his tongue, feeling the vibrations of his groans through his whole, beautiful body. His tongue crept deeper, to the thicket of his legs, the cleft of his ass, pushing his legs back with his shoulders to access that most private part of him when Hunter’s hand gripped his shoulder.

  He looked up.

  Face flushed, uncertain, Hunter looked back at him. “I can’t… not that.”

  “Okay,” Aiden said. He let down his legs and pulled himself up to lay next to him, their limbs wrapped together, their cocks against each other. Hunter stared into him with those perfect, searching eyes. His thumb traced Aiden’s lip.

  “You’re amazing. I thought you were, when I first met you. You were so… confident.”

  Aiden chuckled quietly. “I was drunk.”

  Hunter shook his head. “No. You were more than that. Then you came here and I… I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do about any of this.”

  Aiden kissed his thumb, his fingers. “Don’t worry.”

  “This isn’t right,” Hunter whispered. “It’s… it’s a sin.”

  Aiden kissed the bottom of his jaw, his brow, his nose. His lines were as strong and proud and beautiful as any Utah rock or mesa. Aiden’s palm found the hotness of his chest, resting over his heart. He felt its urgent, quickened beating.

  “I don’t think you believe that. Not in here. I’m not an expert, but when you do something wrong, you know. This doesn’t feel wrong to me.”

  Hunter closed his eyes, wetness brimming at the lashes. “No.”

  “I agree,” Aiden said, rolling Hunter on top of him, letting his hot, naked weight press against him, shifting his legs to accommodate.

  “Do you have… a condom?” Aiden asked.

  Hunter looked down at him with such wide-eyed alarm he almost laughed. Of course he doesn’t.

  “Do you want to stop?” Hunter asked.

  Aiden thought about it. “No,” he whispered. He tightened his fingers in Hunter’s golden hair, bringing Hunte
r back to him, slipping Hunter’s fingers in his mouth before he guided them downward. He showed Hunter how to enter him.

  He winced. “Easy.” It had been a long time. Before Chris. But it didn’t matter. He felt himself opening as Hunter pressed him gently, the flutter of muscles easing. Their brows were pressed together as he wrapped his thighs around Hunter’s back, kissed his hot lips, saw his eyes lit with lust and desire.

  “Go slow,” he said. Hunter spat in his hand, pressed it into him. Aiden fought the resistance of his body, breathing deeply, Hunter’s scent in his nostrils, letting himself be had. Suddenly Hunter was inside of him, every new inch binding them closer, filling the secret parts of him. Aiden groaned, guiding Hunter’s hands to the back of his knees, rocking his hips until Hunter found his own rhythm. Electric jolts coursed up his spine, and he opened his eyes to see Hunter Jensen fucking him, his hard body tensed, his face slick and masked with pleasure. Aiden took it, built on it, let it course through him, the sensation of having him and being his, until he felt both of them reaching their crescendo. He cried out as his hot climax spattered his body.

  Hunter fell onto him, his breath ragged, skin slick with sweat. For a moment, neither of them did anything but lie there, their heartbeats slowing and coming apart. Hunter eased out of him, rolling over. Aiden watched him stare at the ceiling. This was the moment. The last chance to take it back. The last chance to be forgiven and slink back to a life of quiet, faithful desperation.

  Hunter sighed like something was leaving him. He turned his head to Aiden and smiled. His arm wrapped around him.

  “Come here.”

  Chapter Twelve

  THE NEXT day passed in a blur of talking, learning, and no small amount of fucking. They had breakfast and dinner. They went to sleep in each other’s arms. Just for a day, they could pretend they were two normal people who’d met in a normal way. But they weren’t. Whatever happened next was going to be complicated for both of them. The day after the next day came around, as it was always going to, and Aiden found himself sitting in Hunter’s bed, watching his shapely back as he walked into the shower. He watched him go and smiled. Lucy sat on the bottom of the bed and placed her head on her paws. He met the Labrador’s critical eye.